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Southwest Philly steps out to show neighborhood pride

The Mass Konfusion drill team makes their way down Woodland Avenue past a Liberian flag hanging them. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

Students from Southwest Leadership Academy Charter School prepare to begin the Southwest Pride Day parade from 72nd Street and Woodland Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

Members of the Pyramid Temple #1, the Prince Hall Shriners of Philadelphia, walk down Woodland Avenue at the start of the Southwest Pride Day parade. The Shriners are a fraternity best known for administering the Shriners Hospital for Children. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

The Mass Konfusion drill team makes their way down Woodland Avenue during the Southwest Pride Day parade. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

The Mass Konfusion drill team briefly marches in place before continuing on. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

A family watches the Southwest Pride Day parade from their porch on Woodland Avenue. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

Children wait in line to attempt to reach the top of an inflatable rock-climbing wall during Southwest Pride Day festivities in Southwest Philadelphia. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

A boy waits patiently while his face is painted with a Batman design at Southwest Pride Day festivities. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

Children volunteer to be picked for a trick performed by a local magician. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

Children look on in awe as a magician completes a card trick in front of them. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

A young boy reaches up to pet a horse that belongs to the Philadelphia Police Department. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

A girl approaches the top of an inflatable rock-climbing wall on Woodland Avenue. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

The American flag hangs on 65th Street and Woodland Avenue in line with flags of various Caribbean and African nations. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

Members of the Pyramid Temple #1 look on as residents participate in Southwest Pride Day festivities on Woodland Avenue. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

A group dressed in Disney character costumes prepare to go into the crowd. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

The characters pose for a picture before they head out. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

A young man dressed as Mickey Mouse plays with neighborhood children on Woodland Avenue. (Annie Risemberg for NewsWorks)

The skies were blue and the air was crisp Saturday morning at 72nd Street and Woodland Avenue as the Rev. Paul “Earthquake” Moore, an activist based in Southwest Philly, rallied the neighborhood via live stream to come out and participate in the Southwest Pride Day parade and street festival.

Only a handful of people stood scattered around the parking lot, but as the parade moved down Woodland Avenue toward 65th Street, residents were emerging from their houses and storefronts (surely attracted by the sounds of the Mass Konfusion drill team).

By the time the parade reached 65th, hundreds of people were arriving to celebrate on the cordoned-off street.

Southwest Pride Day is a parade and street festival held for nothing more than to celebrate the neighborhood and the people of Southwest Philly. The Southwest Community Development Corporation and the 12th Police District started the festival 23 years ago.

Flags of various African and Caribbean nations hang from the telephone poles along Woodland Avenue, a testament to the diversity of the neighborhood. African restaurants, grocery stores, and clothing boutiques appear every few storefronts. There are churches and mosques.

As evident on Southwest Pride Day, there are families from different parts of the world and from right here in Philadelphia. For those who’ve lived in the city for generations, there now hangs an American flag along with all the others, too.

From the captain of the local volunteer-run bike patrol, to the founder of a local charter school, to the women leading a drill team made up of children and teens, everyone present spoke with pride about Southwest Philly.

Reverend Moore explained the motivation behind all the work put into Southwest Pride Day: “Instead of all the bad news, we want to show some good news.”